Ten Secrets of a Master Networker

These are from an article by Keith Ferrazzi:

Rule 1: Don't network just to network.

Rule 2: Take names.

Rule 3: Build it before you need it.

Rule 4: Never eat alone.

Rule 5: Be interesting.

Rule 6: Manage the gatekeeper. Artfully.

Rule 7: Always ask.

Rule 8: Don't keep score.

Rule 9: Ping constantly.

Rule 10: Find anchor tenants. Feed them.

Snowblower and other stuff

Up until today, I had been hunting around for a strong but affordable snowblower. The driveway in my new home is mighty long, and so it would take an awfully long time for me to dig my way out. I needed a snowblower badly.

I was balking at the expense, though. A new snowblower would cost about $349--closer to $376, with taxes. I really wasn't looking forward to that, since I've had a lot of unusual expenses lately. I had to get vinyl siding installed on my garage, and I also had my driveway resealed. On top of that, I had to get part of my flooring replaced, and my sunroom will need some foundation repair in the spring. Add to that some outrageous automotive repair costs, and these expenses really hurt.

Thankfully though, I found a functional snowblower at a second-hand store today. It only cost me $78 plus change, which means that I've saved nearly $300. Thank you, God!

As an aside, somebody gave me an old snowblower last week. I was really hoping that it would work; unfortunately, it was in horribly bad condition. I pretty much gave up on it after my best efforts at getting it to work. At least the expenses that I incurred were pretty minimal.

What else can I ruminate about? Well, I wish that I could attend this conference, as it would be nice to visit Switzerland for a while. Oh, and I borrowed some obscure CDs from the public library. Why? Because the dear, departed Laurie Beechman performed on them. What a voice! What a treasure! What a shame that she's gone.

Things I'd like to learn

There are an awful lot of things that I'd like to learn about... things that I'd like to master. Here are just a few.

Balboa, lindyu hop, mechanical design, machining, how things work, cryopreservation, Japanese, German, kanji, hiragana, katakana, Latin, microbiology, cellular biology, string theory, M-theory, existentialism, codebreaking, detective work, copywriting, copyrights, intellectual property law, Don Quixote, The Canterbury Tales, Gargantua and Pantagruel, Arthurian legend, Beowulf, combat techniques, archery, fiction writing, theatre, impressionism.

Dreamcoat comparisons

I recently rewatched the DVD recording of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat which had Donny Osmond in the title role. It was pretty good, and it had numerous nice touches, such as dressing Potiphar up as though he were a modern corporate bigwig. Still, I can't help but think that it could have had a better cast. Donny was very good, but he wouldn't have been my first choice. Sam Harris might have done a better job, for example.

I also listened to the original London, Broadway, and Canadian cast recordings. It quickly became clear that the narrator, more than any other character, sets the tone and potentially steals the show. I was disappointed in the Canadian version, but I thought that the London recording was pretty good, and I think that Laurie Beechman did an excellent job in the original Broadway version. Her rendition of Pharaoh's Song was positively mesmerizing.

I hear that Jodi Benson once played the part of the narrator as well. That must have been incredible! The Dreamcoat storyline is highly secularized though, which is disappointing. It fails to mention God at all, and it ascribes Joseph's success to "a lucky break." This must not have sat well with both Jodi Benson and Donny Osmond, both of whom are known for their religious convictions. (I have real issues with Mormonism, BTW, so I'm not praising Mr. Osmond's beliefs. However, I do commend him for the parts of his convictions that I do agree with.)

Laurie Beechman

I just learned that Laurie Beechman passed away about ten years ago. What a shock. What a shame. Her cast recording of "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat" was the very first Broadway cast recording that I ever purchased, and it was worth it. I could listen to her sing over and over again.

I liked Kelli Rabke, and I though that Kristine Fraelich was quite fine as well. Both did a wonderful job as the Narrator in this play. Laurie was quite special though, and her voice is completely unforgettable. I wasn't thrilled with her CD of Andrew Lloyd Webber songs, but her performance in "Joseph" was absolutely incredible.

Here's hoping that she's in heaven somewhere. Here's wishing that we could hear her sing one more time. Sigh.

A new set of angels?

A friend and I were discussing costume ideas recently. We talked about the kinds of creative outfits that we'd like to wear at a costume party. She has a twisted sense of humor, so she prefers to add some gory details, whereas I prefer to use costumes that are understated but clever.

She belongs to a trio of friends, and we got to talking about a costume for one of her pals. Her pal is a trim blonde gal, and I suggested that she could go as Cheryl Ladd. There's nothing distinctive about a Cheryl Ladd costume though, so to make this work, we'd need to dress up the entire trio as Charlie's Angels.

Which is a bit of a problem, since the third member of their trifecta is black. Oh, well.

Helping the Third World

This is nice. A biotech company is offering to help past customers donate their used analyzers to deserving laboratories in underprivileged nations. This is contingent on upgrading to a newer model, of course, but that's reasonable. After all, it costs time and money to place these units in laboratories that are worthy of these goods.

I think about how much faster science could progress if we could get more scientific research going in the Third World. This would ultimately benefit everyone, especially as scientific progress becomes more equitable.

Weird Al comments on Paris Hilton

One of Weird Al Yankovic's lesser-known classics, Headline News, provided humorous commentary on some of the more popular (yet relatively unimportant) news stories of the mid-1990s. These were: The Nancy Kerrigan/Tonya Harding conflict, the caning of US delinquent Michale Fay, and Lorena Bobbitt's impromptu act of surgery on her husband.

During his 1997 Straight out of Lynwood tour, Al had initially modified the lyrics to describe Brittany Spear's flashing and head-shaving episodes. Midway through the tour though, he rewrote them to say:

“Once, there was this girl who got herself a DUI and wound up in jail
And when she finally got out, she did an interview with Larry King on TV
Would someone please tell me, why we give a crap about her”

Preach it, Al!

I like Al because his humor is mostly clean. On occasion, he does touch on more mature topics, but at least his language is never foul. Also, his humor is much more clean that what you'll typically hear in a primetime sitcom. (Good clean jokes can be a bit of a rarity nowadays.)

Linkdumping and random thoughts

Just a bunch of links and stream-of-consciousness blatherings here.

First, I just have to rave about this video here. The choreography is funny and absolutely clever. I positively love the interplay between the actors/dancers in this little production.

I also adore this little musical number. Boy, this 17-year-old gal has some real vocal chops. Absolutely enchanting.

Argh! For some reason, my Internet connection is aggravatingly slow today. Is somebody hogging the cable trunkline in my area? If so, then log off already, please!

Oh, and I'm buying a house. I like the place, but the seller (or rather, the seller's accountant, who's representing him) has resorted to some unethical tactics in his negotiations. What a rat! You can be sure that I'll never use this guy's services. Ever.

More Microsoft aggravations

Okay, I just have to rant and rail about Microsoft again. I've been trying to send a document via e-mail, which requires navigating to its location to load it. Once again, Windows XP slows down to an agonizing crawl. And why? Because it insists on doing so much stupidity in the background -- unnecessary operations that Microsoft feels would be "kewl." Nevermind that it sacrifices performance greatly.

The same thing often happens when you attempt to right-click on a file or a folder. In principle, there's no reason why the right-click menu should not pop up right away; however, XP uses this opportunity to say "Oooh! Oooh! There's a whole bunch of other kewl stuff I can do at this point! Let's squeeze that in!"

To some extent, this depends on the various software options and handlers that have been added to the system. This is one reason why a fresh XP installation will perform better than a three-year-old one. It's ultimately no excuse, though; calling up a right-click menu is such a simple operation that it shouldn't require massive amounts of computing time. The same holds true for calling up Windows Explorer. Microsoft simply made a whole bunch of foolish design calls in their efforts to make things look nifty.

And it's bloody aggravating.

Apprentice candidate Jessie

Earlier, I raved about the talented Ms. Kendra Todd. Well, I've been watching the first season of The Apprentice on a set of badly beaten-up library DVDs. I remember feeling that Jessie Connors had a lot to offer. After watching the early episodes again, I find that I still feel that way.

Jessie was a bit green, and she wasn't as well seasoned as Kendra. She was highly accomplished though, and a very impressive individual indeed. I don't know much about her, but she seems like the kind of person that I would choose to hire for my sales force (if I had one, that is).

Oh, and executive assistant Robin was quite delightful as well. I was sorry to hear that she was dismissed from the Trump organization. According to one alleged insider's report that I read though, she wasn't dismissed by Trump; rather, this was the doing of some new manager gal. Take that for what it's worth.

I'd love to see her return to the show... and I'd love to see her get more lines.

Engineering revisited

Earlier, I talked about this mighty fine piece of engineering design work. Way cool. That's what happens when people understand engineering design principles.

Not everybody does, though. Not everybody understands the principles of sound engineering. Consider the following encounter I once had.

I was telling somebody about this interesting diode-based device that I had received. Like a curious layperson, he said, "Can I see it?" I replied, "No, I'd rather not. It's a static-sensitive device; that's why it's enclosed in an anti-static bag. I'd rather wait until I have it under controlled conditions before opening it up."

He shot back, "That's nonsense! You can handle electronic devices all the time, and they're not going to get fried from a little static electricity. Not unless you have nanometer-sized transistors in their."

"It's not that simple," I replied. "It's not just a matter of device size. You also have to consider the type of device and the materials used. For example, CMOS devices are notoriously static-sensitive, whereas TTL devices are not."

He said, "You know what? I know people who handle blood samples with a lot of ceremony and ritual, whereas others don't. We just don't need to be that complicated."

"And how is that relevant?" I asked. "Blood and circuits are two different things. Let's say that those people are indeed overly cautious. How does this prove that static electricity is not a problem when handling circuits?"

"Look, our company has built hundreds of computers. We've never had a problem with static electricity."

"So what?" I said. "That's like saying that you've driven thousands of miles without a seatbelt, and so seatbelts are unnecessary. All it takes is one accident. Every competent technician knows that certain electronic devices are very much static sensitive."

"Well, you and I are both wearing cotton clothing. We're not going to generate static electricity -- not unless we were wearing synthetics."

"That's not true," I said. "Sure, synthetics might increase the amount of static generated -- but that doesn't mean that we won't build up any static charge right now."

"You're just being fearful," he said. "You need to develop some courage."

"You're being reckless," I said. What I really wanted to say, however, was "You're an idiot."

A fine piece of engineering

I've had the pleasure of seeing how this device operates. I'm not allowed to divulge any sensitive details; however, I can say that it is a mighty fine piece of engineering. Talk about an incredibly elegant design solution.

This device was required to scan a variety of visual targets. This presented multiple challenges, due to the differing geometries and optical characteristics of the objects in question. To make matters worse, there was also the problem of mounting some of these targets cheaply, in a manner that preserved them well. It was a thorny set of challenges, and they all had to dovetail together neatly.

Well, they did. To cut a long story short, the device, its accessory hardware and the mounting scheme all had to work together with great simplicity -- and they did. The choice of materials was just perfect. Just about the only thing that would make it better would be to manufacture some of these parts using certain rapid prototyping techniques, but that would not be cost-effective.

What a fine piece of design work.

Lazy writing in e-mails and on the 'net

Okay, I know that this blog has been a bit negative lately. Perhaps it's a sign of the stress that I've been under, and for that, I apologize.

Right now though, I just have to complain about all the sloppy writing that I see all over the 'net. It seems like so many people that I encounter are practically illiterate, if their message board posts are any indication. Ugh.

Now, I realize that some people have genuine difficulties with language. Sometimes, this is through no fault of their own, and I'd like to be tolerant of those people. With many others though, it seems like they just have no discipline... no sense of order. This is especially true of people who post incoherent ramblings in their singles site profiles and online resumes. In this case, I don't think that a lack of personal language skills is a valid excuse; after all, why not have a friend proofread your work? At least get some input, for pity's sake.

As an aside... on one singles site, I opined that people should attempt to provide polished, eye-catching profiles. One fella chewed me out, saying, "We're not applying for jobs here! It's up to you people to find the good in our profiles!" (Actually, what he said was more incoherent annd mighty difficult to decipher. I suspect that he got angry because he felt outraged at the notion of putting more work into his profile.)

I remember one guy on an e-mail distribution list. His signature said, "Don't complaint to me about spelling or grammar. What, do you think I have time to proofread my e-mails?" Notice the egotistical attitude there? He didn't feel that he shoud put any effort into proofreading his messages, but he felt perfectly justified in making others work harder to decipher his ramblings. Ugh.

Some people just revel in laziness and mediocrity, I guess. In the real world though, "good enough" just isn't. (And in most of these situations, their writings aren't even close to "good enough.")

Microsoft is so aggravating

AAARRRGGGHHHH!!! Once again, Windows XP is driving me nuts. Even though I have a pretty fast machine, it still takes forever to boot up and to open an Explorer window. I routinely scan my machine for malware and I have optimized the system as best I could, and yet this still happens. It's all because Microsoft insists on doing all sorts of garbage -- all sorts of unnecessary stuff. And why? Because of their dumb design philosophy, that's why.

Bloody aggravating.

On a more pleasant note, I think that Maylo McCaslin is mighty cute. Too bad she didn't really hit the limelight. I wish she had landed her own show.

Lazy, obnoxious driver

So today, I parked at a spot on the curb. This fella drives past me, then backs up and says to me, "Look, when you see that someone wants to park somewhere..." I tuned him out at that point, as he was obviously a jerk. He obviously wanted the parking spot that I took, and he was upset... upset enough to back up and complain.

I cut him off and said, "I didn't know. If you want it, you can have it." In reality though, I was thinking, "You jerk. I had no way of knowing that you wanted this spot. What am I, a mind reader?"

What a jackass. To top it off, there were plenty of other spots along that curb. In fact, he was practically next to one, but he just had to back up and complain. That's why I chose to drive off. He was obviously a jerk, and there's no reasoning with them. You never know when they might take a tire iron to your car, or to pull a gun on you.

I wish I had taken down his license plate number... not that it would have done any good, of course. At times like this, I wish I could mentally implant some common sense into the brains of other drivers. What a lazy jackass he was.

As an aside... once again, Microsoft Windows is stalling on me. It's bloody annoying. Windows Explorer takes forever to open up. Ugh. No good reason why, mind you. Microsoft produces unbelievable bloatware, thanks to their idiotic design philosophy.

Apprentice Kendra

I remember watching Season Three of Donald Trump's The Apprentice on TV. I remember marveling at some of the business decisions that were made, as well as the class, intelligence and candor displayed by its winner, Kendra Todd. IMO, she was one of the most beautiful women on television. She didn't have the classic TV look, but she was basically nice looking, and her intelligence and charm pretty much pushed her over the top.

I was watching some youtube.com clips of her performance on the show. You go, girl! It was a delight to see the kind of thought that she put into her work, as well as her energy and dedication. She's certainly an inspiration to me.

Right now, I'm working on some tasks that are similar to what she had to deal with in Episode 14. I try to remember her work as I labor on this endeavor. I'd like to blow people away the way she did.

Singles site cheating, revisited

Earlier, I lamented the way some people attempt to cheat the system on online singles sites. I raised this issue on an online forum once, and lamented the lack of honesty and integrity in these actions. I also pointed out that such cheating reflects poorly on someone's character.

I was unprepared for the tremendous backlash that this received. People responded with tremendous venom, saying things like "Who cares? A lot of people do it" or "Why are you making a big deal of this? There are much more important things to discuss!" (As an aside, I responded to the latter by saying, "What a minute. Why are you making such a big deal over my reaction? Aren't there more important things to discuss? By your own logic, should you not abandon this discussion right now?"

One person responded, "You don't even know this person. How dare you say that this is a reflection of someone's character?" I stand by that claim, though. You don't need to know someone personally to understand that every wrongful action is a reflection of that person. It might not provide complete insight into every fiber of that person's being, but it's a reflection nonetheless. Besides, by that logic, we should have no business commenting on the character of, say, Saddam Hussein or O.J. Simpson -- not unless we know those people personally.

(As it turned out, this person was herself one of those singles site cheaters. No wonder she responded with such tremendous outrage. It wasn't a matter of principle; rather, she just didn't want to admit that her actions were dishonest, or that they reflected poorly on her.)

On a (very) tangentially related note, I'd love to meet someone who looks like a young Courtney Thorne-Smith. It's doubtful that any such person would ever require the services of a singles site, though. Besides, a person's character is much more important that one's looks. Much, much more important.

Smallpox and bioterrorism

Apparently, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) embarked a while back on the development of a safer smallpox vaccine. This is part of a preventive campaign against bioterrorism. Smallpox was nominally eradicated in 1979; however, a few samples of the live virus remain in the USA and in Russia. It is currently believed that certain countries -- both hostile and friendly -- may have samples of the virus as well. (North Korea, perhaps? Criminy.)

The classic smallpox vaccine (vaccinia) has some unpleasant side effects, and in rare cases (1 out of 1,000,000), it can even be fatal. For these reasons, its use is currently reserved for health care and emergency workers. The government has embarked on an effort to develop a safer vaccine--just in case it becomes necessary to deploy this vaccine in the populace at large.

Ideas for the next few seasons of "24"

I have a few ideas for upcoming seasons of "24":

Day 7: On December 24th, Jack Bauer has 24 hours to help Santa deliver all of his toys. In the process, he must also teach the people of Fayed's country the real meaning of Christmas... OR MILLIONS WILL DIE!!!

Day 8: On February 2nd, Jack Bauer gets to torture terrorists over and over again. Every time this happens, he gets a little bit better at it.

Day 9: April 1st. Need I say more?

Oh, and Chloe needs to have her own show. (Yes, I did just want to link to that page again. Mary Lynn Rajskub is such a treasure, and an unconventional beauty as well. If you've seen her on the cover of Geek Monthly, you know what I mean.)